Extreme Swelling of a Lyotropic Lamellar Liquid Crystal

Abstract

The angular distribution of light scattered by an extremely dilute birefringent lyotropic phase shows two well-defined Bragg peaks providing strong evidence of a true lamellar order (lamellae ∼ 40 Å thick and 6500 Å apart in the diluent). The steric origin of the stabilization of this stacking is discussed.